Wednesday, 30 October 2024

National parks

Bev McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (18:41): (1237) My adjournment matter for the Minister for Environment concerns cuts to budget, staffing and services at Parks Victoria. Even when the government had money, Parks Victoria was not a priority. Now funds are scarce, Victoria’s parks, like everything else beyond the tram tracks, are a low priority in their desperate efforts to shore up the ship. I have been pointing out the shortcomings of Parks Victoria for many years here, but while I still argue that they bring many problems on themselves, I do have some sympathy for the poor characters. I mean, how on earth could they realistically manage 4.12 million hectares of parks with 526 staff in the field?

Despite ministers introducing rules to penalise farmers for failing to control weeds and pests, everyone in the country knows the worst neighbour you can have is the government. State budget performance statistics show the area treated to minimise the impact of pest plants, pest animals and overabundant native animals has declined by 33 per cent in just three years, and things have got a whole lot worse in recent weeks. The Weekly Times reports Parks’ confidential operations service catalogue has cut its ‘must do’ services from 111 to 60. The remainder now rate as ‘could do if resources permit’ or ‘only do if tied funded’ or ‘stop/pause’. Removing dumped rubbish and managing invasive species like pigs, deer, rabbits and plants are no longer essential. Staff are being cut, and the paper claims that the junior rangers program, nature walks, the bush kinder and all other educational programs have been stopped. The Community and Public Sector Union says its Parks Victoria members are concerned that the organisation is unable to operate at the levels required to deliver. It is no wonder Parks have created a template workbook called ‘Asset closures and prioritisation’ so staff can create cookie-cutter responses to all the public complaints.

So it is truly staggering that Labor chooses now to introduce legislation to create a further 450,000 hectares of national parks in Victoria. This collision of budget reality with the policy promise of more national parks shows that Labor really has lost the plot. The action I seek from the minister is to halt any further expansion of Victorian national parks. If you cannot manage the existing land, do not create new parks. The risk is that with larger areas covered and falling resources, the government will not reverse the national parks designation or leave areas alone and open to public use. It would be simpler, cheaper and now, sadly, legal simply to invest in padlocks.